An Invitation from our friends at BOOM Arts!

Guillermo Calderón, Chile’s foremost contemporary playwright and an acclaimed chronicler and critic of contemporary Chilean politics and society, is coming to Portland for the first time. Reed College, in association with local theatre producer Boom Arts, will host the playwright on campus for two days, introducing him and his theatre and film work to Portland audiences and to Reed students, who will have special opportunities to interact with him through in-class visits and informal conversations on campus.

Guillermo Calderón’s plays have been translated and produced by major US and international theatres and have toured under his own direction to venues and festivals around the world. His plays have covered ample political ground in Chile, addressing issues from Michelle Bachelet’s presidency to widespread student demonstrations to the legacy of the Pinochet dictatorship. Calderón speaks about his work in clear terms: “Theatre is a battlefield,” he told The New York Times in March 2013, when his play Neva received its US premiere at New York’s Public Theater.

Free Public Events in Reed College’s new Performing Arts Building:

Theatre Performance: Tuesday, April 22, 5pm          

A staged reading of Calderón’s play Villa, in an English translation by William Gregory. In the play, three young women debate the future of the site of a former villa turned into a torture barracks by the military dictatorship.  Originally performed inside the infamous Villa

Grimaldi, this “spare, intense” play grapples with the legacy of atrocity using “stark lyricism and dreamlike imagery” (LA Times). Villa will be introduced by Dr. Kate Bredeson (Asst. Professor of Theatre, Reed College) and performed by Portland actresses Cristi Miles, Dana Millican (Portlandia), & Rebecca Lingafelter. Followed by a Q & A with Guillermo Calderón with Dr. Pancho Savery (Professor of English and Humanities, Reed College) and Dr. Mariela Szwarcberg (Asst. Professor of Political Science, Reed College).
In the Performance Lab.

Film Screening: Wednesday, April 23, 7pm

A screening of the feature film Violeta Went to Heaven, in Spanish with English subtitles; screenplay co-written by Guillermo Calderón. The film tells the life story of Chilean folk music legend Violeta Parra (1917-1967). The screening will be followed by a Q & A with Guillermo Calderón and Dr. Morgan Luker (Asst. Professor of Music, Reed College).
In the Music Rehearsal Room.

No reservations are necessary for these events; please check events.reed.edu or www.boomarts.org for updates and more information.

Calderón’s visit is co-sponsored by Reed’s Division of Literature and Languages and the Departments of English, Music, Political Science, Spanish, and Theatre. It is supported by the Office of the Dean of the Faculty and the Office for Institutional Diversity and produced by Boom Arts by special invitation from Reed College.